Beginning next year, Norway will nearly double the carbon tax on its domestic oil industry to help set up a $1 billion climate change fund for programs in developing nations among other green projects. The Scandinavian nation is the world's 13 largest oil producer and third biggest oil exporter, yet has been one of the most active champions of funding climate change projects.

Beginning next year, Norway will nearly double the carbon tax on its domestic oil industry to help set up a $1 billion climate change fund for programs in developing nations among other green projects. The Scandinavian nation is the world’s 13 largest oil producer and third biggest oil exporter, yet has been one of the most active champions of funding climate change projects.

Norway’s carbon tax on its North Sea oil industry will rise from around $37 (210 krone) to $71 (410 krone) next year with an additional $8 (50 krone) tax on the fishing industry for every tonne of CO2 consumed.

Norway has also announced it will spend around $70 million on programs to combat deforestation globally next year. It has already pledged up to $1 billion each to forest protection in Indonesia and Brazil.

The country also expects to spend $110 million on carbon credits in 2013 to offset a portion of its emissions.

(07/25/2012) A campaign run by environmental activists has helped lead to a 87 percent reduction in palm oil use by eight major food companies in Norway, reports Rainforest Foundation Norway, which led the effort.

(03/30/2012) At the same time that it is committing hundreds of millions of dollars a year to protecting rainforests, Norway is investing more than 13 billion dollars a year via its pension fund in dozens of companies linked to deforestation, alleges a new report from Rainforest Foundation Norway and Friends of the Earth Norway.

(10/17/2011) Global carbon emissions are a complicated matter. Currently, officials estimate national fossil fuel-related emissions by what is burned (known as production) within a nation, but this approach underestimates the emissions contributions from countries that extract oil and oil for export. Is there a better way to account for a country’s total climate change footprint?